June course with wood-firing 2026
This June we welcomed a beautiful group of beginner potters — Peter from the UK, Susan from the USA, Petra from Slovakia, and Irene from the Netherlands — for an immersive two-week pottery journey at our studio in the Latvian countryside.
This happened to be a more introverted group, which gave the two weeks a wonderfully quiet and focused rhythm. There was a lot of concentration in the studio — long stretches of simply making, practising and getting absorbed in the clay.
Over the two weeks, they explored many different sides of working with clay: shaping functional dinnerware through slab rolling, beginning to find their way on the pottery wheel, and experimenting with more intuitive hand-building techniques. Their days naturally settled into a rhythm of demonstrations, independent making and seeing their skills develop.
Their functional dinnerware was glazed and fired in our electric kilns, while the hand-built pieces took a very different path. Made from Latvian earthenware and carefully polished by hand, these pieces were prepared for a traditional Latvian reduction wood-firing during the summer solstice.
For the firing, we joined our dear friend Matilde Laura Ikerte at her wood kiln near Baltā Māja, only a five-minute drive from our studio. It felt especially meaningful to fire local clay with wood and flame at this particular time of year, when here in Latvia the days are almost endless and so much of life moves outdoors.
Outside the studio, another lovely theme emerged around food. Peter had a particular enthusiasm for cooking and naturally took the lead in nourishing the group, preparing many of their meals. Most lunches and dinners were shared together, becoming their own daily ritual after hours spent quietly working with clay.
There was something lovely about that balance: a group of introverts very content to disappear into their own making during the day, then come together around the table over food.
By the end of the two weeks, each participant had created more than 50 functional and beautiful pieces — quite an achievement for a group who arrived as beginners.
But, as with all of our longer courses, the finished ceramics are only part of what these weeks are about. There is time to slow down, connect with like-minded people, share food and experience a little of life here in the Latvian countryside. Especially in June, around the summer solstice, when nature is at its fullest and the nights barely become dark.
Photographs capturing these moments were lovingly taken by my husband, Krišjānis Piliņš.
